Fun times...

This is Matt and I at his parents' house caught between rounds of Phase 10. He beat me...but just barely. Grrr. Anyway, it was a relaxing break all around, thanks to both families. Marriage couseling is awesome and made me ten times more excited about getting married. Whoohoo.

There isn't much time now for a real post because I need to go study for my Religion Comps, which I am taking at 8 am tomorrow...

Spring Break!

I am officially on Spring Break now. Tomorrow, I will be flying out of Detroit and meeting Matthew in Minneapolis, then we will fly home together! (via Seattle, which doesn't make sense to me either..oh well) I haven't seen him in six months so I am super excited. We will be spending some relaxing time with his family in Cut Bank and mine in Great Falls. We will also be getting some more wedding plans done. Whoohoo! Needless to say, I will not be updating until after Easter. Happy Easter, Friends!


"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. "-1 Corinthians 13:1

Christians Before a Watching World

Wow. More and more it has come to my attention that there are major issues within Reformed theological circles. You would think that good, solid doctrine would breed good, solid and unified people. Tragically, I am learning that it doesn't always and that the problem is more widespread than I had previously imagined. If the dissention isn't over doctrine, what is it? Rob Schlapfer, although having recently come into controversy over his websites antithesis.com and discerningread.com, has some good things to say about this very topic. I am going to repost his newletter article from last year here. Enjoy!

Christians Before a Watching World
The Dangerous Pursuit of Reformed Theology

Why is it that, with all too many of us, themore familiar we are with sound Christian teaching the less Christ-like we become in our daily lives? Why are so many "Reformed" belivers, in particular, so lacking in love, kindness, patience, gentleness, meekness- the fruit of the Spirit's work within us? Why so cold- abstracring trith fromt eh real world of people with needs? Is there a danger pursuing theology- especially, in our times, Reformed Theology?

Yes. There is a very real danger. I can testify to it personally...with tears. If left unchecked it can cut us off from brothers and sisters whom we are called to love and serve- simply because they do not hold our same convictions. And it undermines our proclamation of the good news of Christ's kingdom to a lost world in need.

How? By presenting a caricature of the Christian faith- exaggerating certain areas of truth and pushing them to the forefront- that, as Francis Schaeffer puts it, "is hard and lacks beauty." It creates "ugly Calvinism" that is more a reaction to the "easy-believism" of our times than "thorough, Biblical Reformation." Sad, but all too true.

What are its salient features? It places undue emphasis upon God's Holiness, at the expense of His Love. It speaks often of our integrity- the need to maintain a good conscience before God and people- but rarely about the fervent love we are to have "one for another." It has little room for mercy when wronged, and will carry a grudge for years if offended. It dwells on the wrongs of others and seems oblivious to teh idea that love conquers a multitude of sins. It is quick to got to war in defense of some personal conviction, forgetting that "peacemakers" will be called the sonsof God. In short, it lacks the very grace it seeks to promote. (How ironic.)

In many respects, it has similarities with one of the reformation movements found on the pages of the New Testament: the Pharisees. Sinclair Ferguson notes well that,

"The Pharisees were men who had originally set out to restore God's people to orthodox, supernatural doctrine. They were men who had sought to promte holiness of life. They were men who knew something about what it was to have a God who was concerned about the details of men's daily walk before Him...

Many of the doctrines that we love were also loved by the Pharisees. And yet, the tragedy of their lives was that- through mistaken application of God's truth and a failure, especially, to see that the doctrines of God's grace are meant to show us the grace of God Himself- they used their doctrines and their application and their ethic to hide their souls from God. They needed to learn that the doctrines of Grace need to be lodged in hearts of grace in order to produce live of grace...

There is a perennial danger in the religious heart: thatin the midst of all our desire to understand precisely and to live precisely we may lose sight of the grace of God who [after all] sent His Son to be the Saviour of the World. [Not its judge-now.]"

A Question of Balance
Don't misunderstand me. I am grateful that I was introduced to the riches of Reformed Theology some twenty years ago. But the study of such theology is not an end in and of itself. It is always to make us more like Jesus-the gentlelamb of God who conducted a gracious ministry amongthe poor, describing Himself as gentle and lowly of heart. (Matthew 11:29) When Biblical-Theological study produces something other than that it is worse than useless- it can, in fact, be damning. And it presents a watching world with a distorted vision of The God who is There. As Paul, the Biblical scholar, aptly puts it, This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up.

rob schlapfer, christiancounterculture.com

Rise up, O Men of God!

David Talcott has an excellent post entitled "Protestant Hymnody and Making Male Leaders" (dated March 12) found here. Read it! Meanwhile, I will post a great hymn.

Rise up, O Men of God!

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To servethe King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
His kingdom tarries long;
Bring in the day of brotherhood,
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The Church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great.

Lift high the cross of Christ;
Tread where his feet have trod;
As brothers of the Son of man
Rise up, O men of God!

-William H. Walter

Speaking of being hungry...

Perhaps it was the discussion on the Ockhamist's page here on herbal/organice vs. "real science" or the fact that I work in a health food store (and love it), or maybe it was my trip to King Buffet on Friday with Regina and Piko (yay KB!) that prompted me once again to think about food and eating. I think in our culture we think a lot about food- I know I do- and not just in the "food=survival" sense. We're an overweight nation and not just because of genetics. We're the culture of snack food, processed/packaged food, all-you-can-eat food and "biggie size my fries with that." How often, though, do we think about what we eat or how much in light of God's Word? After all, when Paul says, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God," (1 Corinthians 10:31) I think he really meant eat and drink as well as the other applications that we most often ascribe to the verse. I had considered for a brief time doing my senior thesis on a Biblical theology of eating. It's an interesting topic- perhaps for another time. So how do we eat or drink to the glory of God?

I am not prepared to answer that question but I think there must be a way. Consider for a moment the life of a dancer. At Christmas time, my little sister Rachel was describing how the dancers at Interlochen Arts Academy (where she attends for visual art) live out their lives. Basically, everything revolves around their ability to perform. So what they eat and how much they eat and how often they eat all revolves around dance and becoming a better dancer. This focus, even on the small everyday tasks, is something for which the Christian should also strive, to be able to do everything, even drink orange juice, to the glory of God. May God grant us the wisdom and grace for such a task.

The Pursuit of God

Being a religion major is great. In researching for my senior Religion thesis I get to read guys like Augustine, Edwards, Spurgeon, Lewis, Piper and others- and even get credit for it. Today, I was reading A.W. Tozer again and loving it. I read The Pursuit of God for the first time a couple of years ago when Matthew (my fiance!) gave it to me. Here are some excerpts from the opening chapter:

"The doctrine of justification by faith- a biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort- has in our time fallen into evil company and been interrupted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be 'received' without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is 'saved,' but he is not hungry or thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little...Everything is made center upon our initial act of 'accepting' (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls."

Although first published more than 50 years ago, this indictment perhaps rings more true today than ever. It was Augstine who wrote, "You have formed us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." There is a deep, passionate Christianity which many saints have experienced which I think many today are lacking, including myself. Deep love requires vulnerability and weakness and introspection. It also involves being emotional and passionate, which can be an evil to many in the Reformed circle. Are we too satisfied? Do we hunger after God?

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. Amen." -A.W. Tozer

Amerika: Follow-up articles.

I just ran across some interesting articles in the back issues of Christian Counter Culture that tie into to my last post. I haven't gotten through them all, but take a look here.